The
final started out with the #4 seed Joshana Chinappa looking a little
less relaxed than she had throughout the week here at the Winter
Club and El Torky took advantage racing out to a 6-3 lead in the
opening game.

A number of interference lets slowed the game down in the first.
With both players growing frustrated with one another the pace
increased as did the intensity towards the end. It seemed at this
point was when Chinappa’s nerves eased a bit as she settled in to
the match and took a game ball at 11-10. However El Torky turned
things around and snuck out the first 14-12.

Chinappa raced out to an 8-3 lead and looked like she was about to
the tie the match at 1-1. But then we started to see the fire come
out in El Torky again as she started using her arsenal of offensive
boasts and short shots quickly tying things up at 8-8.

However, it was not to be, as Chinappa won the second and third
games. Long matches and sea saw affairs had been the norm so far
this year in Winnipeg and that continued again in this match as just
when it looked like Joshana was started to take control El Torky
raced out to a big lead in the fourth game and kept it the whole way
as she won the fourth game by a score of 11-3 and knotted the match
at 2 games all.

The
fifth game played out much like we expected, Unexpectedly!! It was
tight throughout going back in forth. Chinappa had a slight lead up
until 7-6 when El Torky went on one of her runs, winning 6 straight
points to take her to 10-7 match ball and it looked like she was
going to be taking home the title.

Momentum would once again shift as Chinappa would did extremely deep
and go on a run of her own winning the next 5 straight points as she
took the fifth and final game 12-10 making it the second year in a
row we have a winner from India here in Winnipeg.

Congratulations to both Joshana and Heba for a great tournament here
in Winnipeg and to all the girls for putting on a great show here in
Winnipeg at the Winnipeg Winter Club Women’s Open.

Gutted to lose after being 10.7 up in the fifth but it's definitely
a great week for me here in Winnipeg.

Happy with how I played against very strong, tough opponents Teran,
Whitlock, Fernandez and Chinappa. I would like to thank Trevor, his
team and the sponsors so much for putting on a great tournament.

I would also want to say a big thank you to my parents, sisters and
Coaches Ibrahim Assal, Karim Shohayeb and Omar el Borolossy (the
head coach for the women and men's egyptian team) and my sponsor
Harrow sports.

The giant killer Heba El Torky
once again claimed another seeded scalp, this time that of the #1
seed in the tournament, Nicolette Fernandes.

Nicolette
got off to another slow start as she did in both her opening round
match and quarter final. El Torky took full advantage, quickly
wining the first game 11-3. Nicolette started the second game
stronger and extended many of the early rallies which seemed to be
swinging the match in her favour as she climbed up 5-2. However El
Torky caught fire again Winnipeg nine of the next ten points to take
the second 11-9 and have a seemingly commanding lead, using her
offensive boast to great effect.

Nicolette wasn’t about to go down without a fight as she dug deep
and again tried to lengthen the rallies. She managed to match some
of the Egyptians amazing offensive boast with some beautiful two
wallers of her own. After facing two match balls down 10-8,
Nicolette eventually managed to win the third game with some gutsy
squash by a 14-12 margin.

The fourth game once again saw Heba El Torky show some of her magic
as she raced out to an early 5-1 lead before the tide would once
again turn as Nicolette continued to fight an battle her way back.
Down 6-8 Nicolette cut open the back of her hand in between her
fingers as she tripped over El Torky on the way to a tough get and
needed some time to make the bleeding stop.

After a good 15 min stoppage, play eventually continued with
Nicolette seemingly finding new length as she hit 3 consecutive
length winners. But once again, as was the story of this match, just
as one would gain control the other would rip it way and that is
exactly what happened as El Torky quickly reversed fortunes and won
the fourth in extra points as she moves on to the Winnipeg Winter
Club Women’s Open Final.

In
the second semi of the night, Joshana Chinappa took on
Misaki Kobayashi. Joshana came flying out of the gates, whereas
Misaki looked to feeling the effects from her grueling semi final
victory with Joey Chan. Joshana lead comfortably throughout the
first demonstrating a her effortless swing and pin point accuracy,
no more so than on game ball when she ripped a roll out over head
nick.

Kobayashi continued to struggle with her movement in the second
while Chinappa continued to look comfortable and confident as she
took the second 11-8. Despite still feeling it, Kobayashi put up a
great fight in the third game as she looked to up the attacking in
her game which seemed to work as she hit a number of beautiful
winners to take the third game in extra points, which was the first
game Joshana had lost all week.

Kobyashi continuing to dig deep in the fourth pushed Joshana to the
limit but after a beautiful offensive boast by Misaki, Joshana made
a fantastic get which she finessed in for a winning forehand drop to
take the match in four games.

We had the longest night of matches we have ever had in the 5 years
here at the Winnipeg Winter Club. Things kicked off at 5:45pm with
the #1 seed Nicolette Fernandes taking on the Vicky Lust .

This
match always looked like it was going to be close and it was. It
really set the tone for the night as these two had long rally after
long rally. Vicky was playing comfortable early and looked like an
upset may be in the making. She took the first game 11-7 and 6-2 in
the second before the momentum began to shift in the favour of the
top seed. The strength of Fernandes began to sway the match in her
favour as she took the second 11-7 and commanded the third 11-1.

The fourth however was a sea-saw battle with both players holding
multiple game balls. The fourth had everything including an injury
time out from lust as her index finger on her playing hand was cut
open after being struck by the Fernandes racquet. After the injury
time out, Lust managed to get another game pull but couldn’t pull
off the upset as Nicolette took the final game 16-14 and the match 3
games to 1 in an hour and a half.

Heba El Torky bt Emily Whitlock 3-2

Heba
El Torky continued her in form play after an impressive win over
tour veteran Samantha Teran in the opening round, but taking down
the tournaments third seed Emily Whitlock. This match was a clear
clash of styles. El Torky clearing liking to play a more aggressive
attacking style while Whitlock looked to tighten things up with her
length and some great attacking volleys.

The game style seemed to favour Whitlock with some very long
rallies, however it was El Torky who took the 2-1 lead in games. But
it was Whitlock who once again looked strong in the fourth taking an
early lead and never letting up. But things continued to swing in
unexpected directions as it was Heba who played the more steady of
game in the fifth as she took it 11-6 and move on to the semi finals
and continue her impressive run here in Winnipeg, still waiting for
her luggage to arrive.

Joshana Chinappa bt Siyoli Waters 3-0

In
this highly anticipated shot making affair, Chinappa and Waters took
to the court well over an hour behind schedule. Chinappa who has
looked in fine form all week in Winnipeg is sitting at a career high
of #20 in the world and looking like she could move even higher.
With impressive racquet skills and very solid court coverage,
Chinappa never looked to be in much danger.

Waters who was celebrating her birthday definitely showed flashes of
great squash play, but it wasn’t to be as Chinappa took the match in
straights. The crowd however did try to comfort Waters with an
impromptu singing of happy birthday.

Misaki Kobayashi bt Joey Chan 3/2

This
was a rematch of last year's semi final where Joey Chan took down
Misaki Kobyashi in four games. This time however, Kobayashi was
determined to turn the tables on the world #23. Kobayashi who has
become a crowd favorite in her three years here in Winnipeg used her
more attacking style to take a 2 games to 1 lead on the second see
from Hong Kong.

While the fourth game was close it was Chan’s steadyiness that took
control and a few unforced errors from Kobayahi cost her the game as
Chan managed to tie things up at 2. It was fitting that this match
went the distance and late in to the nigh as most of the matches at
the Winter Club when long tonight.

A tight fifth game was close throughout and kept the crowd that
stayed late in to the night entertained. Kobayashi eventually took a
10-8 lead which gave her two match balls. However she could not
capitalize as Chan tied things up at ten and even had a match ball
before Kobayashi managed to pull out the 13-11 in the fifth victory.

Both
early matches started out with the threat of a minor upset as both
under-dogs started off quite well. Hometown girl Alix Younger
battled Emily Whitlock shot for shot in the first game right to the
end before dropping the opener 11-7. Younger battled hard but
Whitlock’s consistency proved to be too much for Younger as she took
the 2nd and 3rd by scores of 11-4 and 11-5.

On the Main court it was Top seed Nicolette Fernandes taking on
qualifier Sina Wall of Germany. Wall started off quite strong taking
an early 5-1 lead. However the top seed then started upping the
pace, pressure and length of rallies. Once Nicolette caught Wall in
the first game it was a fairly one sided affair as Nicolette looked
in fine form with a straight forward 3 game victory.

Nicolette thanked her junior cheering section in the post game
interview that helped spur her on to victory.

Syoli Waters may have taken a long time to get to Winnipeg but she
didn’t take a long time in making it through to the quarter finals.
Syoli raced out to an early 5-2 lead in the first before Diaz
managed to pull things close at 6-8. But that was as close as it
would ever get as Syoli rolled to a 3 game victory.

The
Victoria Lust and Maria ToorPaki Wazir match featured a match of two
wanna be Canadians. Wazir now residing in Toronto and Lust in
Victoria. There was a number of early lets and general interference
in this one. Each game was fairly tight until the mid way part of
the game when Lust took over each time.

She seemed to have more speed, endurance and patience than Maria
tonight which wasn’t a good combo for the Pakistani. Lust went on to
win three straight and set up an encounter with Nicolette Fernandes
in what will be a battle of the players that perhaps had the biggest
junior cheering sections of the night.

On paper both these matches looked like they were going to be lob
sided affairs. Jaycee Spagrud of Saskatchewan, however showed why
she is one of Canada’s most improved players as she managed to push
the inform Joshana Chinappa who is sitting at a career high of #20
in the world. Chinappa was definitely the player dictating the play
as she hit some beautiful winners but also some unforced errors
which helped keep things rather close. However the winners
outnumbered the errors and Chinappa went on to take the match in
three straight games.

Over on the Live Streaming main court last years’ finalist and
second seed for the event Joey Chan was taking on Mexican youngster
Diana Garcia Fierro. The first two games saw the #2 seed in full
control as she took them in convincing fashion. However the third
was a different story as the Mexican made a game of it and it came
down to the wire before Chan managed to win the last three points
and take the third and final game 11-8 and set up a rematch of last
years semi final as she will now take on Misaki Kobayashi.

A bit of a slow start in the first game by Hollie put her behind the
8ball from the get go. Hollie did start apply some of her power play
with some nice attacking low kill drives and volleys, however it
wasn’t enough as Misaki took the opener and never looked back. Her
quickness and variety of shots proved to be too much for the young
and upcoming Canadian on this day as Misaki rolled through to the
quarters in straights.

Perhaps the most anticipated match of the night was the final match
with Heba El Torky and Samantha Teran. It was definitely the most
intense and hotly contested match of the evening with lots of work
for the referee. The match was a bit of a see saw affair with lots
of lets to go around. Samantha seemed to be cruising early on with
an 8-3 lead in the first.

However Heba began to find her range and shorten the rallies and
before you knew it, it was 10-8 game ball for Heba. Samantha managed
to claw her way back and fight of a number of game balls before
getting one herself. However it was not to be as Heba to a VERY long
first game 15-13.

Heba continued her momentum run in the second game as she raced out
to an 8-1 lead and took the second after a mini comeback from
Samantha 11-6. Samantha to take the 3rd but again fell down earl y
in the 4th 8-4.

Teran never gave up but couldn’t quite overcome the deficit as El
Torky provided the only upset of the night and a match up with Emily
Whitlock in the quarter finals.

Qualifying complete in Winnipeg

Just two qualifying matches at the
Winter Club to get the WSA $15k event under way ... Trevor
Borland reports ...

Germany's Sina Wall put the pressure on a nervous looking
Canadian Annika Alexander early on and let up very little
throughout the match.

Sina cruised to an 11-4 victory in the first game before Anika came
out a little stronger in the second. With a combination of less
unforced errors and improved retrieving Anika put together a
competitive second game which she lost 11-8.

However Wall took charge early on in the third once again and sailed
on to a straight games victory to set up a main draw meeting with
Nicolette Fernandes.

One
of Canada’s most improved pro women Jaycee Spagrud took on
one of Canada’s top up and coming Juniors Hannah Blatt in the
second match of the evening.

Jaycee raced out to an early 7-2 in the first game cutting off the
ball well and taking advantage of some ill advised boasts from the
junior.

Blatt then managed to shake off the nervous start and start applying
some pressure of her own with some great volleys. However the lead
was too big at that point and Jaycee took the first 11-4.

After a comfortable victory in the second game, Blatt tried to gain
the upper hand in the rallies by volleying more and taking the ball
in short more, but Jaycee proved to strong and went on to a three
game victory and a match against Joshana Chinappa in the main draw.